Pencil



F. 1. KRISTOFEK AND H. L. FISCHER.

PENCIL. PPLICATION FILED NOV. Il, i919.'

1,353,352. Patenasept.' 21, 1920.`

UNITED STATES :PATENT QFFICE,

FRANK J'. KRISTOFEK AND HOWARD L. FISCHER, OF ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA,ASSIGNORS TO BROWN @a BIGELOW, OF ST.` PAUL, MINNESOTA, A CORPORATION OFMINNESOTA.

PENCIL.

' To all whom it may concern:

county of Ramsey and State of Minnesota, l

have inventedl ya new and useful Improvement in Pencils, of which thefollowing is a specification.l

Our-invention relates to a pencil, the operatingparts of which are heldcollectively removable from the pencil barrel or shell so that a newmarking lead can be inserted in position for use when the old lead isworn too short. When the operating parts of our pencil are removed fromthe barrel by a simple operation, a' new marking lead can readilybe-inserted in place for use while the pencil barrel, which is adaptedto inclose the operating parts, is formed with an inner smooth contourso that in the construction of the pencil no mechanism is securedrigidly in place in the barrel but rather allows the barrel to be formedof thin tubing by swaging the forward end into the desired conical shapeto simulate the writing end of a pencil while the rear end is swaged toreceive a holding thread by Very\ simple operations. In the making ofapencil it is important that it be of simple construction and of apractical nature so that lall the parts are` formed exactly the sameywith ordinary-dies, tools and swaging mechanism and without thenecessity of each pencil being made by hand, especially where it isdesired to manufacture the pencils for commercial purposes.

A feature of our invention is thatl by a suitable locking means themechanisml is held for operation in the pencil barrel and the rotatableoperating head will propel the lead out of the writing end of the barrelwhen turned toward the right while the operating mechanism lwillwithdraw the lead when the head is turned to the left. A

' continued turning of the operating head to the left will unlock theoperating mechanism from the encil barrel so that' it can be withdrawn.'l'ihis'` feature is important in accomplishing a natural result.

Further ,our pencil proviiles means for conveniently holding extramarking leads so that when the mechanism is removed from the barrel anew marking lead can be readily engaged and inserted `in the operatingmechanism. The lead holding means is so constructed that the free ends'.of the marking spr-,emanan of Letters Parent. Patented Sept, 21, 1920,

Application led November 11, l1919. Serial No. 337,160.

of the extra marking leads will be automativ cally distended from themain parts or body7 of the operating mechanism to allow easy engagementof the same while upon inserting the operatingjmechanism into th"Jbarrel the marking leads are drawn into close relation with the body ofthe operating mechanism to hold them in a collective position, freelyinsertib-le into thevpencil vbarrel or ready to be withdrawn with theoperating mechanism. f

Our invention further provides sockets for the extra leads, which are soconstructed as to freely receive the extra markingleads to hold themtherein, together with-means for holding the extra marking leads .co1-lectively slidable on the operating mechanism to project the free endsof the extra leads beyond the forward end of the operating mechanismwhen itis desired.

1n the drawings forming part of this specification Figurel is a sideview of our pencil, illus-- trating the barrel in longitudinal crosssection. f

Fig. 2 is a view of the operating mechanism and extralead holding means,part of the mechanism being illustrated in cross section.- l

Fig. 3 illustrates .an alternative construction of lead holding meansfor our pencil.

Fig. 4 is a detail of a portion of the construction illustrated in ig. 4p

Fig. 5 is'a detail of our pencil illustrating an alternativeconstruction of lead holding means.

- Fig. 6 is a cross section of the pencil on the line 6-6 of Fig. 1. I 1

The drawings illustrate our pencil A, which is designed to hold amarking lead 10 of a long, 'thin construction havinga very smalldiameter. The barrel 1l of the pencil is formed ofl any suitable tubularmaterial with a thin wall and theforward end 12 is swaged to a conicalshape to simulate the writing end of an ordinary penc1l,

of the conical end 12 of approximately the The marking lead 10,-when itis in position for use,is held axially in the pencil and in theoperating mechanism B, which has a socket 14, to engage the rear or buttend lead and Whh is secured v while an opening 13 .is'formedin theapexrigidly to the driving membery 15. The socket. 14 and member 15 areheld freely slidable in the tubular member 16 with the engaging edge 17of the driving member eX- tending through the longitudinally extendingslot 18 formed in the member 16 so that the notches 19in the edge 17will engage the thread 20 formed in the tubular member 21. j The tubularmember 21lis positioned` to surround the member 16 and the rear end ofthe same'is rigidly secured to or formed integral with the threadedlocking head 22. The rear end of the member 16 extends through the rearend of the tubular y against the inner side of the same and drawthreaded member 21 and is engaged by the pin 23, which is formedintegral with 'the head 24, the pin 23 being soldered or rigidlyattached to the inner end of the member 16 to rigidly secure theoperating head 24 to the member 16. By means of a suitable collar 25,which is rigidly secured by solder or other suitable means,`to the.forward end of the tubular member 16, the tubular threaded member 21with its operating head 22 is secured against longitudinal movement butfreely rotatable on the tubular operating member 16.

The member 16 is slightlyllarger in diameter than the marking leads 1()so that the same can freely move in the member 16 when the marking lead10 is held in position for writing in the pencil barrel 11, and i toallow the marking lead to slide freely into the conical forward end 12through the opening 13 without any side pressure which mightv tend tobreak the very thin lead. This is an important feature of the invention,as it allows the marking lead to alinel or adjust itself *with the hole13 in the pencil barrel 11.

The operating mechanism B is inserted into the pencil barrel 11 with thethreads 26 of the locking member 22 engaging the threads 27 inthe rearof the pencil barrel so that by screwing the member 22 tightly into thethreads 27 the operating mechanism B will be locked in the pencil barrel11 with the threaded member 21 held against rotation, while theoperating head 24 is freely rotatable to rotate the member 16 and causethe driving member 15 to be propelled in either directionl in the sameby engaging with the threads 20 to eject or withdraw the marking lead 10from the writing end of the pencil A. The engaging end 17 of the drivingmember -15 is held movable in the slot 18 free to'follow the thread 20so that the operation of the head 24 will move the member 15 along thethread 20.

lExtra markin sockets 2 8, whic are formed on the band 29, while theband 29 engages the outer surface of the member 21 either frictionallyor is rigidly attached thereto in any suitable leads 10 are held in thesition in the pencil A'. Thesoekets 28 are connected to the band by theflexible Shanks the extra leads 10 into close proximity to the body ofthemember 21 to hold the free ends of the same against engagement withthe threads 27 Aand allow the eXtra leads to pass freely in and out ofthe barrel 11.

The barrel or casing 11 of the pencil A forms the louter wall of themagazine compartment for the eXtra marking lead 10', while the threadedmember 21 ofthe lead propelling unit B /frms the inner wall thereof.Thus the lead propelling mechanism coperates with the casing to form amagazine compartment about the mechanism B. When the lead propellingmechanism B is removed from the casing 11 the entire contents of themagazine compartment is withdrawn from the pencil. The outer ends of thesockets 28 are flared at 31 to form a larger opening in thel re-lceiving end of the socket to allow the leads to be more easily insertedtherein. This feature allows the extra leads to be easily inserted inthe spring sockets 28.

The construction illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 is of l an angular springsocket member 32, which is formed of thin spring material and is splitat 33 longitudinally so as to engage the threaded member 21 frictionallyand to be freely and slidably held thereon` The extra marking leads 10are held by the spring member 32 in the corners or apexes 34 of theangular member 32. It is obvious that the spring socket member 32 can betriangular in general cross sectional shape with rounded apexes or ofany other suitable angular shape to form recessesbetween the member 21and the member 32 to receive the ends of eXtra marking leadsI 10,v whilethe spring construction vof the member 32 allows the free ends of theextra leads 10* to be engaged and raised away from the body of themember `21 to withdraw the same from the springsocket member 32V withoutdisturbing the rest of the marking leads held thereby and withoutbreaking the marking lead engaged. lThis confreely slidalble thereon,while the s ring sockets 28 are held by the spring shan s 30 in closeproximity or parallel to the body of the member 2l to hold the markingleads closely thereto. In this construction the v member 29 is freelyslidable on the member 21 so thatthe free ends of the marking leads canbe projected beyond the forward'end of the operating mechanism towithdraw any of the same from the sockets 28 without interfering withthe other mechanism.

The simple inexpensive construction of l our pencil with its freeoperating parts tends tol give a complete device cfa very practicalnature and it will be readily seen that the construction of the sameallows the operati. ing parts of one pencil to be freely interchangeablewith the operating parts, as a whole, with another pencil of the sameconstruction. This will allow the use of the same barrel 11 for. holdinga, different or new operating mechanism B sov that when a man purchasesthis pencil, if the operating mechanism B becomes inoperable or isdefective he can readily secure a new one withf out inconvenience to thedealer and by retaining his -own barrel orshell 11, which may havereceived some use. By 'this it will be noted .that the construction ofour pencil will allow ythe interchanging of the operating mechanism withthe barrels, aL

feature which is most desirable in a practical pencil. if

In accordance with the patent statues we have .described the principlesof operation of our invention, together with the appa-I ratus which'wenow consider to represent the best embodiment thereof, but we desire tohave it understood that the construction shown is only illustrative andthat the inl vention can be carried out by otherrmeans and applied touses other than those above set forth within the scope of the followingclaims.

We claim l. A pencil including c a tubular barrel,

v means for propelling a marking lead in threaded member to propel alead either direction, comprising, a threaded tu'- bular member, alocking head' rigidly at-V tached to the rear of said threaded member, alead receiving tubular member, a lead driving elementI having a leadreceiving socketsl/idably held within said lead receiving member, saiddriving member being adapted to engage the threads on sai held in saidsocket, an operating head fixed to the rear end of said lead'receivingmember adjacent said locking head and a collar at'the forward end ofsaid lead receivifng'inember adapted to retain said threaded member'onsaid lead receiving member against longitudinal movement and to supportthe forward end of thesamein sald barrel.

2. A pencil including a hollow barrel, a

hollow conical forward end on said barrel, a lead propelling meansladapted to be 4collectively removably held in said barrel, comprising,a hollow threaded member, a locking collar fixed to the rear end of saidmember, a longitudinally slotted hollow member extending through saidthreaded mem cluding, a tubular longitudinally slotted member, aleaddriving member in said slotted member, an'operating head formed onthe rear end of said, slotted member, a tubular threaded member throughIwhich said slotted member is adapted to extend, a

locking head formed on said threaded member adjacent said operating headand a collar connected to andadapted to support the forward ends. ofsaid slotted and threaded membersin said barrel.

4. A pencil including means for propelling a marking lead in eitherdirection, a hollowv barrel having a rear opening to receive saidpropelling means. sald propelling y means including two exposed operatinheads adjacent each other, one rigidly fixe to said propelling means andadapted to lock it in said barrelv and the other adapted to operate saidpropelling means.

5. A pencil comprising the combination of a .tubular barrel, athreadedopen rear lend formed on said barrel, a threaded tubular memberadapted to be contained in said barrel, a locking collar on the rear endof said threaded tubular member adapted to engage said threaded open endof said barrel, a long Iber extendlng through said threaded tubularmember, an operating-head 'secured to the rear end of said slottedmember, alead driving member in said slotted ymember and a supportingcollar connected to and adapted to support the forward ends of saidslotted and threaded members respectively in said barrel.

6. A pencil having a barrel, a leadpropelling means, 'a locking headrigidly con nected to said propelling means and an operating headadjacent said locking head, saidlocking and operating heads beingitudinally slotted tubular mem-l adapted to be engaged and rotatedtogether Ito remove or insert said propelling meansl in said barrel.

-7.. A pencil pelling means, a locking collar rigidly secured t0 saidpropelling means and an operhaivinga barrel, a lead pro-i ating'head forsaid propelling means adja- 'cent said collar, said head and collar bothbeing 'engaged and rotated together with said propelling means to removesaid pro` pelling means from said barrel.

8. A pencil including a barrel, a lead propelling means and resilientmeans ada ted to4 automatically distend an extra `mar ing lead fromsaidpropelling means when said propelling means is\ removed from saidbarrel. y

9. A pencil comprising in combinationa barrel, a lead propelling meansand means adapted to hold one end of a Series of extra marking leads tosaid propelling means,

whereby the free ends of the extra marking leads will be distended awayfrom said ropelling'means when' removed from said arrel and be drawncollectively together adjacent said propelling means wlien inserted insaid barrel.

10. A pencil including means adapted to hold a series of eXtra markingleads to automatically distend and collect' the leads when said pencilis opened and closed respectively.

11. A pencil having a barrel, a leadpropelling means and means adaptedto hold -one end of a series of extra marking leads collectively to saidpropelling means with the free ends ofthe extra leads extending towardthe rear end of -said ropelling means to cause the collectively he dends of the leads to enter said barrel first when said propelling meansis inserted in said barrel.

12. A pencil including a barrel, a lead propelling means and means ada.ted to hold a series of extra marking lea s automatically distended orcollectively drawn together about said propelling means when saidpropelling means is removed or inserted respectively -in said barrel.

13. A pencil, comprising a barrel, a lead propelling means within thebarrel and spaced 4therefrom to form a lead receiving magazine betweenthe lead propelling means and the barrel anda closure on said leadpropelling means for said magazine removably secured to said barrel tolremove said propelling means in yits operative entirety and open saidmagazine.

14. A pencil havingv within its body a i' lead propelling mechanismextending to the exterior of the pencil body, there being l-a spacesurrounding. said mechanism within the body open at its upper end andforming a circular magazine for reserve leads, the propelling mechanismextending to the exterior of the pencil body at its upper end, meansintegral with said propelling mechanism adapted to form aI closure forthe magazine detachably secured to the pencil -body whereby leads withinthe magazine Ymay be extracted, and means extending beyond the closuremeans for actuating the lead propelling mechanism.

15. A pencil having within itsbody a.

lead ropelling mechanism extending to the exter1or`of the pencil body,there being a space surrounding said mechanism within the body open atone end and forming a magazine for reserve leads, means integral withsaid propelling mechanism detachably secured to the pencil-body forforming a closure Y for the magazine whereby. leads within the magazinemay be extracted'and.

tending exterior ofthe' casing for detachably securing the leadpropelling means in its entirety to the casing and forming a closure forsaid magazine and means for actuating`the lead propelling mechanismextending to the exterior of th'e pencil body 'at its upper end, saidpropelling mechanism being detachably secured to the pencil bodywhereby. leads may be removed from the magazine. y

17. A pencil comprising a casing having an open end, a removable unitcomprising means for gradually feeding the lead through the open end ofthe casing as the lead is worn away atv the writing point, said unitbeing positioned vin a manner to-a provide a lead receiving compartmentabout the unit within the casing, said casing forming the outer wall ofthe compartment,

whereby the contents of the compartment 1s withdrawn from the casingwhen the unit is removed therefrom.

FRANK J. KRISTOFEK. HOWARD L. FISCHER.

